Doctrine And Covenants

In the spring of the year 1820, when Joseph Smith was fourteen years old, he was visited in person by God, the Eternal Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. He was told that the Church of Jesus Christ that had been established as the new covenant in New Testament times, which administers the fullness of the gospel, was no longer on the earth, and that God had a special work for him to do on the earth, and that through him the Church of Jesus Christ would be restored to the earth. Other divine manifestations followed in which he was taught by many angels, and the church was officially established in April of 1830.

We realize that if this were taking place in Old Testament or New Testament times that it would be easier to accept. For we accept that a serpent spoke to Eve, and that Moses and the Children of Israel walked through the parted Red Sea on dry ground, and that fire came down from the sky and licked up the water in the trench at Elijah’s command, or that Balaam spoke to a donkey and the donkey spoke back, because these things happened so long ago. It must have been difficult for them in that day to accept the miracles and the mysteries of God moving His work forward as well.

But the reality remains that God placed man on the earth whose nature has been sinful since the fall in the Garden of Eden. Yet God has continually worked through man to move His work forward. As He has done so, he has instructed man and commanded men to write. As with the writers of the Old and New Testaments, the Doctrine & Covenants are the compiled writings of Joseph Smith and other church leaders as they were instructed by God on how to establish and restore the Church of Jesus Christ once again on the earth. Thus, once again are the ordinances of salvation and the power and authority to administer them, available to all.

As you read the Doctrine & Covenants you will see Joseph’s pleas for help, guidance and understanding and receiving divine instruction from the Lord. If Joseph was setting up his own church, there would not have been a need to petition the God on every detail. However, he did, and within the pages of this book, readers hear the tender and oft times chastening voice of the Lord, guiding and admonishing Joseph and the Latter-day Saints in their efforts to embrace and establish Zion.

This sacred work is unique in the sense that it is the only scripture that was given in English after the manner of our language (See D&C 1:24) and not a translation from an ancient text and language. The messages contained in the Doctrine & Covenants, like all scripture, are intended for all men and women, and each can only grow closer to God the Father and their understanding of Him, His son Jesus Christ and His spirit, by diligently studying and praying about its contents.